Cambrex Reports Loss; Advances Biosciences Business

Reflecting the vagaries of the custom manufacturing market, Cambrex Corporation (East Rutherford, NJ, www.cambrex.com), a custom manufacturer and provider of life science services and products, reported a full-year 2005 net loss of $129.2 million on sales of $452 million. The results include an $87.2-million goodwill impairment charge and a $35.8-million charge to reduce the carrying value of long-lived assets. The impairment charge mainly stems from weakness in the company’s contract biopharmaceutical process development and manufacturing business.

Cambrex took $76.8 million of its goodwill impairment charge in its biopharma business in the fourth quarter 2005, in part because of an unfavorable regulatory development at a large client.

The loss comes despite a 61%-increase in the total number of contract development and manufacturing projects processed by Cambrex's biopharma, cell therapy, and human health businesses in 2005. This includes 60 projects in its human health business, 17 in its cell therapy business, and 23 projects in its biopharma business. 

Cambrex renews pact with Chugai Pharmaceutical

Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd (Tokyo, Japan, www.chugai-pharm.co.jp/hc/chugai_top_en.jsp) has signed an one-year renewable license agreement with Cambrex Bio Science Walkersville Inc., a subsidiary of Cambrex Corporation, for use of Cambrex’s “Clonetics” conditionally immortalized cell lines in Chugai’s drug development programs. The companies had signed an evaluation license in August 2005.

Cambrex Bio Science Walkersville also has launched a new formulation of its “Poietics” preadipocyte growth media kit (PGM-2) for use with the company's primary human preadipocytes in research related to obesity, insulin resistance, Type II diabetes, inflammation, and certain related cardiovascular disorders.

Cambrex launches reagents for protein samples

Cambrex Bio Science Rockland Inc., a provider of products for electrophoresis of DNA and proteins and a subsidiary of Cambrex Corporation, has launched its “Versalinx” reagents for improved preparation of protein samples used in drug development.

The Versalinx reagents technology platform is based upon the specific interaction between phenyl(di)boronic acid (P(D)BA) and salicylhydroxamic acid (SHA). The P(D)BA half of the Versalinx affinity pair is covalently attached to a protein or peptide. The addition or combination of the P(D)BA-conjugated ligand to the SHA-modified agarose results in immobilization of the P(D)BA-ligand conjugate, allowing it to be used as a hook for sample purification.

Cambrex will develop and commercialize new products based on the Versalinx reagents technology, including additional P(D)BA molecules for the modification of proteins and SHA molecules to coat a wide variety of surfaces and substrates such as magnetic beads, nitrocellulose, and glass. Cambrex is also offering licenses to the technology.